Peace Now
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Peace Now (Hebrew: שלום עכשיו - Shalom Achshav) is a non-governmental organization in Israel with the agenda of "swaying popular opinion and convincing the Israeli government of the need and possibility for achieving a just peace and an historic conciliation with the Palestinian people and neighboring Arab countries; this in exchange for a territorial settlement based on the formula of 'land for peace'".[citation needed]
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[edit] History
Following Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel in 1978, 348 Israeli military reserves officers petitioned Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin urging him to continue with the drive for peace. This petition led to the creation of Peace Now, a grassroots movement dedicated to raising public support for the "peace process."[citation needed]
At a rally held in Tel-Aviv's Kikar Malkhei Israel (later renamed Kikar Rabin after Yitzhak Rabin), demonstrators called on Prime Minister Begin to sign a peace treaty with Egypt in exchange for the return of the Sinai peninsula.[citation needed]
Peace Now opposed the 1982 Invasion of Lebanon, holding a massive rally after the Sabra and Shatila Massacre.[citation needed]
On 10 February 1983, at a Peace Now demonstration in Jerusalem, a right-wing militant named Yonah Avrushmi tossed a hand-grenade at demonstrators, killing Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig and injuring several others.[citation needed]
Throughout the years of its activity Peace Now has opposed Israeli settlement in the West Bank, which it perceives as being calculated to undermine the possibility of peace with the Palestinians.[citation needed]
During the 1980s and early 1990s Peace Now called for recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the National representative of the Palestinian people. The First Intifada was perceived by Peace Now as a political act, therefore the movement called for negotiations to be held with the Palestinians, aimed at putting an end to what the movement perceives as forced occupation of the West Bank (also known as Judea and Samaria) and Gaza.[citation needed]
The signing of the Oslo accords marked a milestone in the activity of Peace Now, which has since strived to support governments that acted according to the "land for peace" formula, and demonstrate against governments that had different approaches to the peace process.[citation needed]
With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000 to present), support for the movement has waned, in light of what seems from a present perspective as the collapse of the peace process set into motion at Oslo. [citation needed]
![Kibbutz member wearing Peace Now T-shirt. Demonstrations and public expressions of support for Peace Now were common in Israel in the 1990s, but by 2003, when this photo was taken (near a kibbutz swimming pool in the Negev), such expressions had become rare.[citation needed]](../../../upload/thumb/0/05/Shalom_acshav.jpg/200px-Shalom_acshav.jpg)
In 2003, new initiatives aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were set into motion, such as the National Census and the Geneva Initiative, both of which are also based on the "land for peace" formula. Neither initiative is officially affiliated to Peace Now, though many of same players have been involved in the various peace initiatives. The Geneva Accord is identified with Yossi Beilin and the Yachad party; the National Census is identified with Ami Ayalon, who has deliberately kept this initiative separate from Peace Now in order not to damage support from the general public.[citation needed]
Peace Now's main activities for 2004 are monitoring Israeli settlement expansions and the establishment of illegal outposts by the Hilltop Youth. Peace Now was one of the main organisers of the Mate ha-Rov ("majority camp") demonstration in 2004, in support of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. On March 19, 2005, a pro-disengagement rally attracted 10,000 people. Since Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza, Peace Now has not organized any major effort to support any further withdrawals.[citation needed]
Peace Now has supported Israel's aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, noting that Israel is acting out of self defense. Along with the Israeli government, "Peace Now" holds Hezbollah responsible for starting this war when it abducted 2 Israeli soldiers and killed 3 others on July 12, 2006, declared its intent to remove the "Zionist entity" (as they call Israel), and subsequently launched missles into Israel as Israel entered Lebanon to retrieve the soldiers.[citation needed] While Hezbollah's cross-border operation was against international law, Hezbollah had violated this border (the blue line) numerous times in the previous years and was held responsible by the U.N. Security Council, in Press Statements (SC/8563 from 23/11/2005 and 8599 in January 2005).[1]
[edit] Criticism
The movement has been criticized by more conservative supporters of Israel for lacking realism given the alleged absence of a corresponding movement on the Arab side of the conflict. However, there are in fact many Palestinian and Arab voices which also advocate Peace Now's formula of "land for peace."[citation needed]Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet and co-initiator of the National Census peace proposal (with professor Sari Nusseibeh), has criticized Peace Now for demonizing the Jewish settlers, thus encouraging hate towards settlers, and providing the general public reasons to dislike the peace camp.[citation needed]
Ayalon scorns Peace Now for failing to rally the masses in support of the Israeli Peace movement, although surveys indicate that the Israeli public supports a separation from the Palestinians and a peaceful solution. Ayalon explain that this because Peace Now and the left wing have shown alienation and a patronising attitude towards the general Israeli public, and that this attitude combined with increased terrorist activity over the past four years are to blame for Peace Now's current poor standing within the Israeli public, which feels the peace camp is not committed (enough) to stop Palestinian terrorism and protect Israel's interests.[citation needed]
Ayalon concluded that many settlements should indeed be disbanded, but the transferred settlers should be embraced and receive support - both financial and moral - from the state and the public, and not being treated as enemies.[citation needed]
(Part of the speech in Hebrew can be found at: [2])
Peace Now has also been criticised by some groups within Israel for receiving funding from sources such as the European Union.[3] (Hebrew)
[edit] See also
[edit] Arab-Israeli peace diplomacy and treaties
- Paris Peace Conference, 1919
- Faisal-Weizmann Agreement (1919)
- 1949 Armistice Agreements
- Camp David Accords (1978)
- Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (1979)
- Madrid Conference of 1991
- Oslo Accords (1993)
- Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace (1994)
- Camp David 2000 Summit
- Peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs
- List of Middle East peace proposals
- International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict
[edit] External links
- Peace Now (Hebrew)
- English
- Americans for Peace Now
- A Song for Peace (Hebrew and English translation)
- Jewish Left-Wing Community (London-based)
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process | Israeli activists | Organizations based in Israel | Politics of Israel | Peace organizations | Jewish organizations | Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts | Israel-Lebanon conflict
